We explain what the salary or salary is, and what is its origin. Equal pay, types of wages and what is the minimum wage.
What is Salary?
The salary, remuneration, salary or stipend is the amount of money that a person regularly receives employee, in exchange for a stipulated working time (in the performance of tasks or the manufacture of specific goods), in accordance with what is explicitly agreed in a work contract voluntary, whether formal or informal. In less words, it is the economic remuneration that a person receives in exchange for their work force.
Salary payment can take place monthly, biweekly, weekly or even daily (in this case it is renamed wage), depending on the labor arrangement ordered by the dynamic of work. Similarly, the amount of the payment is usually determined by a ratio of the value of the work per hour, that is, by how much money an hour of labor or an hour costs. service determined.
However, other factors intervene in the latter that must be taken into account when calculating the amount of the salary, such as the level of professionalism necessary to carry out the work, the hours in which it must be carried out or the conditions from hygiene or risk to which the worker may be exposed.
Equal pay
There are numerous legal agreements that regulate the way in which wages must be paid, to guarantee workers the right to a decent salary: one that is consistent with the effort made, that is equitable among those who perform the same work without distinction of race, sex or other characteristics, and that allows them to live honorably. This is contemplated in the declaration of the Universal Human Rights.
Origin of salary
The term "salary" explains a lot about its origin, since it comes from the Latin word salarium, that is to say, "payment of salt". In those times, salt was a rare and precious commodity, since it served as an antiseptic and to preserve the food; so much so that it was worth its weight in gold. Then, around the year 500 BC, the emperor ordered the construction of a saltpeter route called "Via salaria", through which the salt from the town coast of Ostia Antica. The legionaries who guarded this road were rewarded for their services with salt, thus giving rise to the expression, as well as expressions such as "not worth your weight in salt."
Salary types
Commonly speaking of forms of salary, according to the logic or the norm used for its calculation. For example:
- Nominal salary. It is the type of salary that integrates the "payrolls" or lists of workers, to which a position and a fixed series of responsibilities, and based on said organizational step, also, a payment amount.
- Salary per unit of work. This form of salary is received only when the work or service has been completed and / or provided. That is, it pays at the end of the job.
- Salary per unit of time. This form of salary, on the other hand, pays for each hour of time spent in the tasks of the job, grouped by day, week, fortnight or month.
- Mixed salary. A form of intermediate salary between the work unit and the time unit.
However, a distinction can also be made between two forms of salary, depending on how the payment is made:
- Salary in cash. The one that is paid using the legal currency of the current country, that is, in hard cash.
- Salary in kind. That which is paid by means of other types of non-metallic goods, such as products, records, bonds, food, etc.
minimum salary
The minimum wage or minimum wage is the minimum amount of money established by the law from a specific country that must be paid to a worker, in exchange for a period of work contemplated in hours, days or the month. A minimum wage is expected to be the minimum amount of money required for a head of family meet your food (food basket), vital and educational needs during that period of time.
The minimum wage is calculated based on conditions that vary according to the legislation of the country, and is susceptible to changes in inflation and the value of the local currency, which is why it is often used to measure the quality of life local.
A minimum wage was established for the first time in the 19th century, in the Australian state of Victoria, as the result of a series of uprisings and workers' strikes demanding better economic conditions of employment. Along with the reduction (and control) of the 8-hour workday, the minimum wage is part of the main achievements in the vindication and defense of the working class in the world.